《声音》启明星专刊 VOICES for Daystar Academy VOICES Fall/Winter Edition 2018 | Page 20

DS BEIGAO MS
is first to help kids be able to identify their passion
and skills through different exercises that we can do.
And then to help them see what the planning process
looks like. Such as “I’m passionate about science”. So,
what can I do with that passion? Do I want to use that
passion to help another person or a group of people? Or
do I want to use that passion to just raise awareness
for this knowledge and interest that I have? And then
planning out what they are going to do. And then being
able to create action and doing something from it. We
want to help create a structure so that the students can
really see the thinking that it takes to create and design
something, based on their passion.
language and literature, and English language and
literature. So that is a little bit of a different approach.
You say you try to ensure that our students are
meeting standards and there’s also relevance in what
they are learning. Can you share more on how you
are accomplishing that?
Shawna: In terms of what they actually do it varies. But
let me give you a specific example. Our 6th graders,
in their English and Literature class, the content that
they need to learn is understanding fiction writing or
narrative writing piece, how they structure those and
how they can communicate that. We could very easily
give them a prompt in class and let them write an essay
and let them turn it in, grade it and be done. And that
would be more standards-based.
However, we want to ensure relevance and authenticity.
For example, in their unit, they read the book
“Wonder”, which was about the idea of tolerance and
acceptance of all people with differences. And instead
of giving them a testing situation where they write a
narrative piece, we had them create a children’s book
that teaches the theme of acceptance. They each had
to craft their own personal message of acceptance.
Everybody created a children’s story, but they were all
vastly different. We had stories with animals. Some had
really creative stories about objects. One girl wrote
about erasers and pencils, and how the eraser was
trying to erase different people who didn’t fit in. Every
student was able to write from their own viewpoint,
and their own point of interest and skill set. What they
liked, what they valued, all under a similar theme. The
end goal for a project like that was that they would be
able to get their book printed, have them go down to an
elementary class and read their books to the younger
students that lesson.
We are also evolving last year’s Passion Period to now
be called “Genius Time”. Our big goal for that period
Daystar Academy Fall/Winter Edition 2018
What is unique or special about Daystar’s MYP
program, compared to other schools in your opinion?
Jessica: One of the ways in which we are unique
is the intentionality of how we are integrating the
IB and its practices and everything that it stands for
throughout our school. The IB provide a framework, the
investigation, planning, taking action and reflection, is
the process that they will engage in.
How we’re integrating components of the IB
authentically into our school sets us apart. Because
having come from the US and working in IB schools
in the US, so often IB is something extra. It’s just in
addition to what we do, as opposed to “this is what
we do”. That I believe is a key difference. We have
high expectations for our students. The fact that they
take two languages, and two literature classes, rather
than one literature class and one language acquisition